Posts Tagged ‘Kevin Ding’

Howard: Playing With Pain And Purpose

February 3, 2013  ·  10:23AM

a

HANG TIME, Texas — According to the medical reports, it’s a platelet-rich therapy injection in his injured right shoulder that could allow Dwight Howard to rejoin the Lakers for today’s game in suburban Detroit against the Pistons.

But more than anything that comes out of a syringe, it could be a shot of Kobe Bryant that’s putting the All-Star center back into the L.A. lineup.

Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register calls it the Kobe Code — punching the clock, finding a way, doing your job.

Bryant made clear after Howard’s last aggravation in Phoenix on Wednesday that he expects Howard to deal with it, even though Howard missed three games previously and now another game Friday.

“It’s one of those things when you get banged like that going up, you’re going to get that stinging sensation,” Bryant said. “That’s just how it’s going to be.”

Bryant knows from experience.

Bryant tore the labrum in his right shoulder in 2003. He did it in an awkward way also — though more uncool than unsound, basketball-wise: Bryant tried to finish a dunk while being fouled by Minnesota center Rasho Nesterovic and rammed the ball against the front rim, wrenching his shoulder.

It happened in the second game of the playoffs, and Bryant played the next 10 games with the limitation as the Lakers’ quest for a fourth consecutive NBA title failed. That was the season Bryant played all 82 games despite various injuries, averaging a still-career-high 41.5 minutes — and he averaged a still-career-high 32.1 points in the playoffs despite the shoulder injury.

In other words, what’s a little pain in your shoulder compared to the utter agony of the Lakers missing the playoffs?

There’s precious little time now for the Lakers to keep shrugging it all off and insisting that things will only get better with a bit more patience. The halfway mark of the schedule has already faded in the rearview mirror and the sirens are blaring louder than a five-alarm fire.

How many times does one team get say this is the week when it makes a stand? The last time the Lakers went out on the road was supposed to be the cure-all, but they promptly got slapped and swept in Toronto, Cleveland and Memphis.

Then a three-game winning streak, with supposedly a statement win over OKC in the middle, was going to be the springboard for the current seven-game Grammy Trip. But blowing a 13-point lead in the opener at Phoenix has the Lakers once more as exposed as Milli Vanilli.

Thus, here comes Howard back after missing just one game, not just to put some size in the middle of the lineup, but perhaps to show that he’s got the spine that Bryant demands of himself and his teammates. This is about earning respect.

Remember, while the short-term goal is still to do a full-Lazarus and somehow make the playoffs, there is still the long-term future to consider. As the 34-year-old Bryant pushes himself to the limit playing maximum minutes in pursuit of that sixth NBA title that would pull him even with Michael Jordan, he’s got to know that his wingman Howard is made of the right stuff. While Kobe and Shaquille O’Neal dueled and shot spitballs over petty personality disputes, neither ever doubted that the other would lace up his sneakers and play hurt with the season in the balance. How much faith would Bryant have in a new five-year contract given next summer to Howard if he hasn’t laid it all out there to be playing in the spring?

Now the season is on the line, as it has been from the moment that the Lakers first fell on their faces out of the starting gate. Only this time it’s for real.

So Howard will be back in the lineup playing in pain, at least in part because the misery that could come from Kobe for not playing might be felt far longer.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in HT News / Comments (65) /

D’Antoni Isn’t Going Anywhere Soon

January 25, 2013  ·  12:47PM

HANG TIME, Texas — OK, so Mike Brown got the ax after a 1-4 (.200) start and now Mike D’Antoni is 12-20 (.375) as his replacement.

In some places that maybe be called progress. In Laker Land it’s got many fans already looking for the next candidate to sit in Phil Jackson’s former big chair on the sidelines. Even Phil Jackson.

But while the angry villagers may be carrying torches and pitchforks as they make their way to storm the front gate, our man Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register says they’re wasting their time and kerosene:

There’s plenty of heat and speculation — and plenty for Mike D’Antoni to hash out as far as better utilizing his players, including 2013 free agent Dwight Howard — but I was told Thursday the Lakers are not considering a buyout or firing of D’Antoni as head coach.

The Lakers’ next chance to get off the floor is tonight, when they start a three-game homestand against Utah, Oklahoma City and New Orleans.

The bad news for D’Antoni’s critics is they’ll still have him to kick around as the Lakers try to stumble toward respectability. The good news is at least he’s got to stay there and watch it with them.

What do you think? Is it too crazy for the Lakers to bounce a second coach in the same season?

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in HT News / Comments (236) /

Numbers Don’t Favor Lakers

January 21, 2013  ·  11:34AM






HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – If and when this season officially goes over the basketball cliff, the Los Angeles Lakers will have their pick of scapegoats.

From the entire Buss family to David Stern, Phil Jackson, Kobe Bryant, Mike D’Antoni, Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol, Steve Nash, Metta World Peace, the Hollywood elite and just about anyone else who has set foot in Staples Center this season, you will not be safe if things come completely undone and the Lakers miss the playoffs.

The real culprit, however, might be the numbers. They don’t lie and the Lakers are stalling at a time when they simply cannot afford to, given the obstacle course they have left to navigate.

As of this morning, they need to go 24-18 over the next 42 games just to break even this season, which we all know probably won’t be good enough to get them into the playoffs. That means they’ll need to play lights out over that same stretch to get back into the playoff picture.

While we’re not saying it’s impossible, it seems highly improbable for a team that’s managed a mighty 17-23 record heading into tonight’s game against Chicago (9:30 ET, TNT). Then again, the way things are going, impossible might need to be the rallying cry the Lakers use the rest of the way. Because no one thought this result was possible when Nash and Howard joined the party over the summer.

Fast forward to the third Monday of this New Year and Howard and the Lakers are still trying to get out of their own way, experiencing the sort of growing pains few people expected them to still be dealing with this late in the season.

Give the Lakers this much, they are giving it the old equal-opportunity try in assessing their issues. Everything is being scrutinized. Even Kobe has admitted his struggles and failings. Their defense has been atrocious, validating the fears of many (the HT crew included) that D’Antoni’s penchant for focusing so much on the offense might obscure the fact that this crew’s biggest deficiencies are on the  other side.

Despite despicable defensive numbers, they all seemed to be more concerned about offense, as Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register reports:

“The ball sticks,” D’Antoni lamented Sunday.

Said Nash: “Sometimes we don’t do what we talk about and we break away. And maybe that’s because we need more time, but to me, mentally you’ve got to stick with the script. Right now I think we’re defecting from the script too many times.”

Bryant’s thought process? Very different.

He said he was “very, very happy” about Pau Gasol getting consistent post-ups Sunday: “We got a lot of easy things from him down there, so we’ll start seeing that more often.” As for his poor shooting, Bryant said he was tired and needed to get more massages, ice baths and rest. He has been asked to defend the best perimeter player on the opposing team in recent games and last game requested more set plays for him to shoot.

“This team needs me at both ends of the floor,” adding a vague reference to “unless they’re going to do something roster-wise.”

The time for vague references are over. The Lakers have a definitive bottom line they are working. They have 42 games to work with and the legacy of this team, this group, and, specifically D’Antoni, Kobe, Nash, Howard and Gasol, will be defined in that time and space.

Time is running out!

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in HT News / Comments (79) /

Report: Dwight Looks Good On First Day

September 12, 2012  ·  9:02AM

HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – When is Dwight Howard going to be ready to suit up and actually play for the Los Angeles Lakers?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Nobody rocks a designer sweater better (you remember Howard from his introductory presser, above). But Lakers fans and NBA fans everywhere are itching to see what Howard looks like in action. And until now, we weren’t sure exactly when that would be. Howard is recovering from spinal surgery and there has never been a concrete return date given.

But he’s begun working with the Lakers’ training staff — his first day was Monday — and according to our main man Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register it was a “promising” first step, we could be getting closer to learning exactly when he’ll be ready:

Details are scarce and Lakers spokesman John Black declined to comment, but Howard on Monday had his first hands-on session with Lakers athletic trainer Gary Vitti and head physical therapist Judy Seto at the team’s training facility in El Segundo.

Howard is rehabilitating after April 20 spinal surgery, and no one has been ready to commit to a day, week or even month when Howard will make his Lakers debut. But the level of mobility and strength Howard is already showing has to be encouraging for anyone hopeful he’ll be jumping for that opening tip-off Oct. 30 against Dallas.

Howard insisted at his introductory Lakers news conference that he will not play until he is truly 100 percent. He also said this:

“Anybody who knows me and knows what I’m about: I would never quit anything and I would never fake an injury. I’ve never been a quitter. I’ve always been somebody who pushed through the end. I’ve had injuries before but I’ve never said anything about them. I’ve played through a lot of things.”

(more…)

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in HT News / Comments (158) /

Lakers To Retire Shaq’s No. 34 Jersey

August 31, 2012  ·  6:45AM

HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar finally gets his statue and now Shaquille O’Neal and Jamaal Wilkes will get their jerseys, No. 34 and No. 52 respectively, retired to the rafters at Staples Center.

It’s been a pretty good week for former big men toiled for the Los Angeles Lakers at some point during their NBA careers. And it’s going to be a busy season for the Lakers, who are legitimately back in the title hunt (with the additions of Steve Nash and Dwight Howard to their Kobe Bryant-Pau Gasol nucleus) after a two-year hiatus.

Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register served up not only a little perspective, but also some concrete dates as to when all these honors will be unveiled:

There haven’t been many sweet moments between Shaquille O’Neal and the Lakers since his trade in 2004, but the big one will come April 2 at halftime of the game against Dallas.

O’Neal’s No. 34 jersey will be retired, as Lakers owner Jerry Buss promised it would be, and go up on the Staples Center wall along with the Lakers’ other greats. In eight Lakers seasons, O’Neal posted averages of 27.0 points, 11.8 rebounds and 2.49 blocked shots while winning three NBA championships (2000, 2001 and 2002).

On the wall already by then will be Jamaal Wilkes’ No. 52, scheduled to be retired by the Lakers in an earlier ceremony in the coming season. Wilkes’ honor will be at halftime on Dec. 28 against Portland.

The first reflective moment of the season will be the unveiling of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s statue at Star Plaza outside Staples Center on Nov. 16.

Plans for the statue of Abdul-Jabbar and the jersey retirements for O’Neal and Wilkes were already confirmed last season by the Lakers. Wilkes was selected last season for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and the Lakers’ policy has been to retire the jerseys of all who are enshrined.

With O’Neal and Abdul-Jabbar taken care of, we started thinking about others in the Lakers’ family tree and how they might be honored. Does Derek Fisher get a small plaque somewhere, a luxury suite named in his honor, anything?

And what about Phil Jackson?

We should probably leave it alone right now and just applaud the Lakers for doing all that they have done for the likes of Magic Johnson and Jerry West and now Kareem, Shaq and Wilkes.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in HT News / Comments (75) /

Bynum And Bryant, Kindred Spirits?

March 28, 2012  ·  8:06AM





HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – Kobe Bryant is just full of surprises these days.

He gets “benched” by Lakers coach Mike Brown late in a game against the Grizzlies and responds by basically not responding and putting the team first, above any individual needs.

Then Andrew Bynum tests Brown again last night by launching a 3-pointer and the All-Star big man gets benched, only to have Bryant ride to his defense and point out that he and the big fella are kindred spirits, of a sort. This is the same Bynum that Bryant ranted about (infamously) in a parking lot once, seemingly a lifetime ago, when Bynum wasn’t the low-post load that he is now.

With Bryant you never know what you might get in the form of his actions or reactions. But we must admit this has been one of his most entertaining stretches, if only for the slight shock value. His reaction to Bynum’s benching, via Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register, was priceless:

“It’s somewhat amusing to me, because in some ways the edginess and the chippiness of him make it easy for me to relate to him – because I had some of that when I was young,” Bryant, 33, said about Bynum, 24. “So, it’s easy for me to see where he’s coming from.

“I understand where he’s coming from. And the first thing you want to do if you want to get the best out of somebody or the best out of your players is you have to understand what they’re feeling; you have to understand where they’re coming from and what they want to accomplish. That’s why it’s not that big a deal to me. You don’t see me sitting here trippin’ or sweatin’ or anything like that. I’ve been there.”

Bryant’s support for Bynum in this situation is proof of the evolution of a relationship that at one time seemed destined for a nasty breakup (long before last month’s trade deadline, there were rumors of Bynum being replaced by the likes of Dwight Howard.)

(more…)

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in HT News / Comments (123) /

The Wrong Time To Intervene

December 9, 2011  ·  11:30AM

– For the latest updates check out: NBA.com’s Free Agent Tracker

HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS — Basketball reasons, huh?

Good luck getting that one past the discerning eyes of millions of basketball fans that know better.

The explanation for the league putting a stop to the three-team, Chris Paul-Lakers deal was disseminated via statement late last night, putting the final nail into what was clearly one of the most bizarre nights the league has seen in years.

From the decision itself to the theories behind why it happened, not to mention the most twisted piece of all, Dan Gilbert‘s terse email detailing his displeasure (and that of many other owners) with the proposed trade was, it all just felt wrong.

It felt wrong as it was going down, wrong during three or four hours of sleep were lucky to get here at the hideout and dead wrong this morning as we try to make sense of the senseless.

The league picked the wrong time to intervene for “basketball reasons.” That should have been done long before Hornets general manager Dell Demps engaged in trade discussions with the dozen or so teams that made serious inquiries about Paul. And even then it would have been the wrong thing to do.

Whoever owns the Hornets will have to deal with the reality that Paul has no intention of playing for the franchise longterm. So rather than making a fool of the franchise, a mockery of the process and a bigger mess than the 149-day lockout did with the fans, someone needed to do the right thing and find a deal that allowed for Paul’s departure without totally destroying the fabric of the franchise.

Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor did it last season when he moved Deron Williams, his franchise’s most valuable asset at that time, before being backed into a similar corner. What Demps was attempting to do was in the very best interest of the franchise and would have been by most any reasonable standard a solid deal for the Hornets (you get three starters, two draft picks and save yourself from the ongoing saga that would have been CP3-watch for the next however many months … you have to take that deal).

Worse yet, the folks suffering the worst today are the players in all three cities that have to show up for training camp, if they show up for training camp, and answer questions about decisions that had nothing to do with them and they had no hand in making.

In Houston, Luis Scola, Goran Dragic and Kevin Martin have to deal with the fallout. In Los Angeles a wounded Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol will be expected to hit the floor and act as if the night before had never happened. And in New Orleans, Paul has to decide if legal action is his best recourse for being allowed to do what we all know he will do at some point, and that’s leave the Hornets.

Not even “basketball reasons” will keep that from happening at some point.

(more…)

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Free Agency 2011, HT News, Uncategorized / Comments (98) /

Hang Time Podcast (Playoff Previews)

April 14, 2011  ·  8:10PM

HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – Before a ball officially goes up on the 2011 NBA playoffs, we need to take a little bit of your time so we can discuss a few things.

In fact, we’re going in-depth on all eight playoff series, dissecting the action in both the Eastern and Western Conferences with a few friends of the program on the Hang Time Podcast Playoff Preview extravaganza.

We broke down each series with an insider that has a unique perspective on the matchup, the key players and everything else that comes along with playoff basketball.

Can the Lakers complete the three-peat? Can the Spurs, Heat, Mavericks, Celtics or Magic stop them? Are the Bulls, the league’s top overall team based on regular season records, for real? We answered all those questions and more.

LISTEN HERE (and make sure you turn the volume up):

EASTERN CONFERENCE

- Chicago-Indiana,with NBA.com’s Steve Aschburner:

- Miami-Philly, with Ethan J. Skolnick of the Palm Beach Post:

- Boston-New York, with Paul Flannery of WEEI:

- Orlando-Atlanta, with Hawks radio broadcaster Steve Holman:

WESTERN CONFERENCE

- San Antonio-Memphis, with Dan Wolken of The Daily:

- Los Angeles -New Orleans, with Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register:

- Dallas-Portland, with Ben Golliver of Blazers Edge:

- OKC-Denver, with Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman:

As always, we welcome your feedback. You can follow the entire crew, including the Hang Time Podcast, co-hosts Lang Whitaker of SLAM Magazine and Sekou Smith of NBA.com, as well as our super producer Micah Hart of NBA.com’s All Ball Blog.

– To subscribe to the podcast via iTunes, click here.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Podcast / Comments (46) /